The story
Founded by Max Sonnenberg on Oct 1931.1
Founded by Max Sonnenberg and his son Richard Sonnenberg, Woolworths first opened its doors on 30 October 1931 on Plein Street, Cape Town, in the dining room of the recently closed Royal Hotel.The Sonnenbergs were part of a wider generation of South African Jewish entrepreneurs who played an important role in the development of South African retail.The early success of the business led to the opening of two additional stores in the Cape region.
It soon became evident that the new business had the potential to expand nationwide, although a lack of capital initially hindered this prospect. Sonnenberg's friend, Elie Susman, provided the necessary funds for expansion into the Transvaal and subsequently became his business partner.
The choice of the name originated from Sonnenberg's friendship with a London shipper and financier, Percy (P.R.) Lewis. Lewis was a director of Australasian Chain Stores (ACS), a London shipping and finance house established to serve a rapidly expanding Australian business founded by W.T. Christmas.
London shippers frequently provided financing and selected goods sight unseen, which were then dispatched to their clients. Since the (now defunct) American company F.W. Woolworth Company had no interest in trading in Australia, "Father" Christmas – as he was known – adopted the name for his new enterprise. Lewis proposed to Sonnenberg that ACS could supplement "Father" Christmas's order sheet and send a scaled-down quantity of each successive item from Australia to South Africa.
Accordingly, Sonnenberg adopted the name for his venture. Two years later, a South African court ruled that sufficient goodwill had been established to dismiss an injunction brought by the American retailer against the use of the name.
In 1998, Woolworths acquired a controlling interest in the Australian clothing retailer Country Road. However, the company was unable to take Country Road private due to Solomon Lew's refusal to sell his 11.67% stake in the business. Woolworths assumed full ownership of Country Road in July 2014 when it purchased Lew's shareholding for US$200 million.
In 2000, Woolworths partnered with South Africa's largest gas station chain, Engen Petroleum, to pilot a new Woolworths Foodstop convenience store format. In 2003, the partnership officially launched to the public.
In 2014, Woolworths purchased the Australian department store business David Jones for A$2.1 billion. David Jones was sold to the private equity firm Anchorage Capital Partners in December 2023.
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In August 2023, Woolworths Financial Services (WFS) began offering pet insurance under the WPetInsure brand. The packages were underwritten by major commercial bank Absa, which also underwrites the group's credit cards and loans.
In March 2025, Woolworths launched its Woolies After Dark partnership with Uber Eats. Available at select Woolworths Foodstops in Engen gas stations, the service enabled at-home deliveries until midnight, beyond any of the retailer's standard store hours.
In July 2025, Woolies opened a new format of store – Woolworths Food Emporium – with the first location in Durbanville, Western Cape. The store became the company's new flagship. The supermarket is not only larger than the average Woolworths Food store but also features an experiential design. The new layout includes specialist areas including a florist station, Our Kitchen to-go counter with live cooking, fishmonger, confectionery section, Italian and Mexican pantry areas, and the WCellar wine section.
By late 2025, Woolworths had begun rolling out new store formats and format names. This included rebranding some of its existing food stores to Woolworths Food Local, while keeping its Food Market and Food Stop branding, as well as the far newer Food Emporium flagship store format. New standalone store types included WEdit for clothing and WCellar for liquor.
In February 2026, Woolworths announced that it was piloting self-checkout at its store in the Foreshore, Cape Town. The retailer aimed to determine whether a single Express Till could help reduce lunchtime queues. A Woolworths spokesperson stated that the trial would not eliminate cashier roles and that any affected staff would be retrained and redeployed to other store positions. The move followed an August 2025 pilot of smart shopping carts by competing retailer Checkers.
In March 2026, it was announced that Roy Bagattini would retire as Woolworths' CEO at the end of September 2026, after over six years in the position. He will be succeeded by the current Woolworths Food division CEO, Sam Ngumeni.
Also in March, it was reported that Woolworths had signed a deal to wholly acquire In2Food, a longtime supplier of its premium convenience food products, from the latter's founder, Old Mutual Private Equity. The value of the deal was not disclosed, but at the time, In2Food generated around R5 billion in annual revenue.
In June 2026, it was reported that Woolworths had partnered with Takealot Group for warehousing and distribution services, for Woolworths Online. The group was also using Takealot's delivery subsidiary Mr D, to deliver items from Woolworths-owned Absolute Pets.
In August 2026, Woolworths opened its second flagship Woolworths Food Emporium store. Located at Dainfern Square in Johannesburg, the store is the same large format as the first Emporium location that opened in Cape Town just over a year earlier.
In September 2026, it was reported that the 101st Woolworths Foodstop convenience store had opened, in partnership with Engen Petroleum.
That same month, Woolworths received approval, with conditions, from the South African Competition Commission for its acquisition of supplier In2Food.
From Wikipedia’s article on Woolworths (South Africa), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5